Beautiful
by imonadiet
Summary: Basically another cinderella knock-off, only this one lives up to its name.


Jocelyn Ennis  
  
May 31, 2001  
  
Beautiful  
  
  
  
Far off the coast of India, there lies the island of Kiln. Now it is just an old volcano island, but once it was booming with activity. Most of the island's foundation was built upon their production and export of clayware. They made clay pots, clay pans, utensils and plates. Everything there was clay. They even made their houses out of clay. And it was because of this rather plain substance that many people were employed.  
  
On this island there lived a family by the name of Prothe. The Prothes were a very tight-knit family. They were quite poor, but this drew them together. Everyone in the family worked at the clay factory. Even their youngest child, a five-year old girl by the name of Hope, worked to make the deliveries to and from every floor. Hope was a beautiful child; everyone that saw her was held captive by her sparkling love for life, her wit, and her charm. None of her family members envied her, for she was their pride and joy. Her older siblings, all ten of them, watched over her and protected her.  
  
One day there was a horrble accident at the factory. One of the kilns used to dry the clay had been clogged by the residue and exploded. The floors collapsed and everyone on the bottom, second and third floors of the five-floor factory was crushed to death. Every one of the Prothes except for little Hope Prothe, who had been running an errand upstairs on level 5 for the supervisor on the third floor, had been on level 2. She felt the explosion rumbling beneath her feet.  
  
"Momma!" she cried out. "Daddy! Help!" she screamed as she fell downward. The fire surrounded her and she felt her skin being melted by the intense heat of the flames. Fire, fire, everything was fire! Blood curdling screams pierced the air, and people prayed to God to just die. Her entire body was being consumed by the flames. She couldn't move, breathe, or let out a cry for help. She slipped in and out of consciousness, but at one point she felt a pair of strong arms grab onto her and pull her away from the searing heat.  
  
She felt fingers probing at her body. "She's not gonna make it, John, put 'er over there with the rest of 'em."  
  
"No," said a man's voice firmly. "She's gonna make it... she has to."  
  
"Fine," he said in a voice of exasperation. "Just bring her 'ere."  
  
  
  
~Ten years later~  
  
"Die ye old witch! Die!" screamed the village children, as they threw rotten eggs and and cabbage at the little tree where the old beggar lived.  
  
"Go and rot like these here eggs! Die! Rot! Die!" they screamed and screamed and screamed and they never stopped! Never, never, never! She tried ignoring, but there was little she could do inside, and she did not dare go outside for fear that they might kill her.  
  
"Shoo! Go away you little brats! Get! Get outta 'ere!" A big man ran outside and chased the children away.  
  
"Ah!" the old woman shrieked with gratefulness and relief. "Thankyou, sir!" she said quickly, poking her head out the door. She pulled her head back in and closed the blinds and the curtains.  
  
"Ma'am! Are ye all-" he began to inquire, but she went back inside before he could finish.  
  
"Hmmm," he muttered under his breath. "I am so sorry."  
  
On this island of Kiln, there lived several strange characters. Some famous, others not so well -known. But this story is merely about two of them. In the village of Yalc, there lived an old beggar, or so they thought. It was actually a poor orphan. She was fifteen and had lost her entire family- twelve people!- when she was five years old in a factory accident. That was how she got the burns on her face; the reason why all of the members of the community hated her. The clay factory had been in a little, but busy, town called Aylc. One day a kiln got backed up and exploded. It was a devastating accident, over three hundred people died! `  
  
The girl had horrible, terrible burns all over her body. Because of this the village people thought that she was evil, and that it had been some sort of demonic attack on her that had made the whole town suffer. They attacked her suddenly one night and she fled to a nearby town called Yalc. There she lived in a tree and was tortured by these towns-folk.  
  
The other "odd one" was the prince of Yalc, Cornelius. Prince Cornelius did not like being prince! Can you believe the absurdity? He thought that no one saw his insides. Who cares about insides? He was a prince! Soon to be king! He was rich, handsome, and royalty! He could have married any courtier in the province, but he was looking for love.  
  
These two young people never came in contact until a royal ball was suggested by the king's council. When the prince found out that his Father, King Herman, had arranged a marriage for him, he locked himself in his room and did not eat nor sleep for five days! Eventually, King Herman relented and Prince Cornelius was left the responsibility of finding a woman to love.The king's advisor came up with the absolutely brilliant idea of a ball to put Prince Cornelius in a position where he could meet and speak to (and hopefully fall in love) with one of the women in the kingdom.  
  
Bang, bang, bang!  
  
"What in the world?" thought the beggar woman. "What is that?" She peered outside to see a royal guard posting a sign on her tree. A large crowd gathered at the sign. Shouts of excitement rose up from the people. "In two days?" "That's hardly enough time!"  
  
The women all ran home excitedly to prepare for whatever the sign had declared. After several minutes, when all the people had cleared away, she cautiously stepped outside. The bright sunlight blinded her. When she could see again she read the sign that had been posted.  
  
ROYAL ANNOUNCEMENT  
  
FROM THE PALACE  
  
In honour of the Prince's wishes, a royal ball will be held to find the Prince a suitable future queen . All of the women in the kingdom may attend. The ball will begin at 7.00 p.m. on Friday, the night of the thirteenth, of the month of October, of the year of 1893.  
  
"ha! All the women," scoffed the woman. "Yes, all of the most beautiful, rich, and highest stature in the community they mean.  
  
"But should I go? I have always hated that people judge me by my outsides, how can I do the same to the Prince and the members of the royal family? Ah," she sighed frustratedly. "Who am I kidding? There is no way the Prince could love me."  
  
The next day, Wednesday passed by very quickly. She busied herself with everything she could find. She mopped the floors twice, working especially hard to removethe spots in the wood floor. She scrubbed her clothes until she felt the fibers wearing. She even ripped one shirt because she concentrated so hard on not concentrating on the ball she ripped straight through her raggedy old dress.  
  
"This is ridiculous," she thought. "I'm being absolutely ridiculous."  
  
The next day there was nothing left to do. The market place was overly crowded with all of the girls hopeful for what might happen that night.  
  
"Why can't I go? Why won't you let yourself go?"  
  
"Because you're too afraid of getting hurt again," she murmered under her breath. Throughout the last ten years, more than half of her life, she had adapted to living alone. With no contact with anybody who loved her.  
  
A knock sounded on the door.  
  
Startled, she lept into the corner to protect herself for what might come next. She braced herself for the thwack! of eggs and various other rotting substances to sound at her tree. But nothing else came except for more knocks.  
  
"Hope, it's okay! I'm not going to hurt you." came a familiar voice from behind the door.  
  
"Wha-" she said, puzzled. "How do you? What? How do you...?" she asked, cautiously opening the door a crack.  
  
"It's a long story. May I come in?" The face of her kindly neighbor who had saved her from the neighborhood children the other day was appeared.  
  
"Umm, sure, I.. guess," she said slowly.  
  
When he was inside, seated on a very uncomfortable seat, he started out with his story. "Ten years ago I lived in a village called Aylc."  
  
The young beggar woman's attention was caught now. She stared at him, forgetting about all of her self-consciousness about her burns.  
  
He noticed this, but continued, "I worked for this clay factory, but I had a special job. See, in my department, we have a specail... gift, I suppose you could call it. We were recruited from everywhere in the nation to work on this island. We are able to sense danger, and we are all assigned to a certain person. I was assigned to this absolutely beautiful little girl named Hope Prothe. One day, a group of us from Section 7, the special area, were sitting around drinking some coffee. Then, one by one, we began to shake. Violently. Horrible visions began to appear to us. We fled the building in panic, but after the explosion we were called back by the leader of the factory. I ran through the debris and fire and found you. I got you out of there and brought you to the man who then brought you to the hospital where you recovered. I ran as fast as I could when I felt your attack was about to take place. But I was too late." He stopped and took a deep breath.  
  
"It took me weeks to locate you . But finally I did, and it breaks my heart to see you living in these conditions. With these horrible people torturing you in such a cruel way!  
  
"But I am determined that you will go to the ball tonight."  
  
"What? No! I can't! I can't" she exclaimed in protest.  
  
"Why not? I was given the power to help you! I could give you whatever you wanted! I could make you the most beautiful maiden in the land!"  
  
"Ah, it's so tempting. I want it so badly! Could you really make it so that I could go to the ball tonight?" asked Hope hopefully.  
  
"I could, but. But!" he added after her squeal of delight. "But it would only be temporary. I know that you want somebody to love you, but you want them to love you. I don't know the prince personally. And I may have specail gifts and abilities, but I do not know man's heart. I leave that up to God."  
  
"I want to go. I just want a chance to be normal."  
  
"Ack," she said after thinking fo r a moment. "Why did you have to come?" she whispered frantically, running a hand through her still singed hair. "I have never wanted this! I never cared to live a "normal" life! Now you have give me this oppurtunity and I realize this need that I have for it. I cannot refuse this chance!"  
  
"Well, first of all, everyone deserves a chance at a "normal" life. Just so that they realize that they are not missing out on anything." He chuckled at his little joke.  
  
"So you want to go?"he asked.  
  
"Yes, very much so."  
  
"Well, then. We must get started! We have little time to dawdle here!"  
  
She smiled and ran to catch up with him. "So what do we do first?" she asked excitedly.  
  
"Come over here. Now, shut your eyes."  
  
She obeyed and shut her eyes.  
  
She awoke several minutes later on a beautiful silk bed. "Oh, my goodness!" she yelped. "How did I fall asleep? What happened? What did you do? How long was I asleep? Did I miss the ball? Oh, no!" she rambled.  
  
"It's okay! Calm down!" he rushed over and grabbed her by the shoulders to help calm her down. He took her hand and led her over to the full-length mirror in the powder room.  
  
"Look at yourself."  
  
"Oh!" she said. Tears ran down her face as she reached up and touched her new, beautiful, smooth skin. There were no burns or scars or anything. On her body was a long green silk dress, long and flowing and elegant. It trailed behind her. On her feet were emerald shoes. They were too big for her, though, and they kept slipping off as she waled around, turning and spinning, admiring her reflection. For every tear that spilled onto the silk material of her dress, one more beautiful object came into formation on her body. There was a gorgeous jeweled necklace around her neck and on her styled-up hair there lay a beautiful silver tiara with diamonds all around the low edge.  
  
"Oh, my goodness." she whispered slowly. "How-" she started.  
  
"This is no time for silly questions, madam. Your chariot awaits." He escorted her outside and into an elaborately decorated carriage, led by two well-groomed, absolutely lovely white horses. It looked like something from the fairy tales her parents used to tell her when she was a little girl.  
  
"Now, remember," he said. "You will remain like this until you say out loud that you want it to be taken away. And you must always remember- we will be repaid for our deeds.  
  
"Now git!" he let go of the rains and smacked the horse on the rear. In the front seat appeared a coachman that directed the carriage to the palace.  
  
She walked up the stairs to the palace doors. The guards were stunned by her beauty, and argued over who would open the door for her. She smiled slyly to herself.  
  
"Don't go getting a swollen head on yourself, now Hope." she thought.  
  
She walked down the red carpet, and every head turned her way. She instinctively raised her arms to protect her face and hide her burns from them but then she remember that there was no need to do that. The prince was talking to a group of courtiers, with a fake smiled glued to his face. When he saw the beautiful woman, though, he was stunned. He had not seen her before, which he found odd. He excused himself from the group and walked over towards this mysterious young woman.  
  
"Hello, mademoiselle."  
  
"Umm, hello." she said.  
  
He laughed on the inside. She seemed unsure of herself and he liked that.  
  
"Would you like to dance?" he asked.  
  
"I'm not a very good dancer, actually. I haven't had much... experience."  
  
"Ah, I see," he said, disappointed. "Perhaps we ought to go talk and get aquainted?"  
  
"I would like that," she said smiling.  
  
They walked out onto the balcony and stayed there for hours.  
  
"Oh, please. Excuse my rudeness! We have been talking for this long and I do not even know your name!"  
  
"I have to go!" she said, standing up quickly.  
  
"No!" he said, grabbing her hand. "Please, tell me your name.I want to see you again. I want to tell my father that you are the one!"  
  
"Please, I have to go! Please let me go!" she ran through the building and out the stairs.  
  
"What do I do? What do I do?" she asked herself over and over.  
  
She walked home the long way that night, thinking over the night. She dwelled in her memories.  
  
The next day she heaerd the same, bang bang bang! at her tree. "What?" she said. Yet again when the crowd cleared she made her way outside and read the sign.  
  
Royal Announcemement  
  
From the Palace  
  
In honour of the Prince's wishes, another ball will be held tonight, starting at 7.00 p.m. in order to visit more with the women of his kingdom.  
  
That night, she paced around her floor for hours, thinking of what she should do. She knew taht the Prince loved the girl that he had spoken with the other night, but would he love her? The onl yreason he had probably loved her was because she was so beautiful. That's it! Hope divised a plan in her mind and then dressed hersself to go to the ball.  
  
When she arrived she walked through the crowds, looking for Prince Cornelius. "Where is he? Where is he?" she thought.  
  
She felt a hand grab her arm. "You came!"he shrieked joyfully. "Oh, I was so afraid you would not come!"  
  
"Can we go outside to the balcony again? Or someplace else? I need to talk to you about something very important." she said quietly.  
  
"Umm, okay. Sure, " he said.  
  
When they were outside Hope said, "I don't want it anymore."  
  
"What?" asked the Prince, puzzled. "What don;t you want?"  
  
Then, right before his very eyes the beautiful courtier turned into the ugly beggar witch, whom he had heard all of those horror stories about.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked in horror.  
  
"I am the same woman you spoke to last night, just with a different outside cover. Who are you?"  
  
"I am the Prince of Kiln," he said angrily.  
  
"Okay." she sid, with tears starting to form in her eyes. She turned to leave. "That's waht I thought you would say."  
  
"Wait! Stop, please. I'm sorry. I- I am not just the Prince." he made a face at the word. "You are the same woman?" he asked. "How is that possible?"  
  
"It's a long story," she said.  
  
"Well, we've got time." said the Prince with a smile.  
  
She started to tell him her story, all the while pacing along the balcony. She told him of her family; ah! it fel tso good to speak of them! She told him of the fire an dth eman who rescued her. Her escape from Aylc, and then her arrival here. She told him of the villagers and the noisy, cruel children. Then she told him of a man that she met, who allowed her for one night to be normal. Then she went to this ball, you see, and she found the most extraordinary man. But she did not know if he would love her if she had burns and scars everywhere on her face. She did not want him to love her because she was merely beautiful, though.  
  
"But I had to find out who I had fallen in-" she stopped and lowered her eyes. "Who I had fallen in love with."  
  
The prince walked over and lifted her chin. "I love you because you are you! I fell in love with the woman who I spoke with all evening and then dreamt of all night. I did not even want to be a prince! I hate being a prince! I have no way to escape form it to test your love. But I suppose that you have tested it for me," he said slowly.  
  
"How?" she asked him.  
  
"You risked punlic humiliation and rejection by coming here and doing this tonight. I could have had you killed because technically you lied to me."  
  
"I'm very sorry, by the-"  
  
"But you did it with so much courage that I can only admire you! I think about it and wonder if I would have been able to do such a thing." he continued. "And I love you. I want you to marry me! I want you to be my queen, please say you will!" he asked hopefully.  
  
"I- I- I- I- I... will." she said.  
  
A hard wind began to blow and Hope's neighbor appeared before them. "Now, Hope, you have proven yourself worthy. You may have this gift back permanently... if you want it."  
  
"Worthy to be beautiful? I don't want it, I don't like that feeling."she said. "Besides, I already know what's important." Hope said with a smile. "Thankyou for evruything that oyu have done, though. I will always remember you."  
  
Prince Cornelius took her hand and led her through the crowd in he building. "Ah!" came several screams in the building as she walked through. "Get that dirty old beggar away from me!" screeched one girl. "Prince Cornelius has this old witch been bothering you?" she asked with disgust.  
  
He walked past her and onto the platform where his father and mother, King Herman and Queen Helga were sitting on their thrones.  
  
"This beggar as you call her, is the love of my life, and if I have my way she will be your future queen. Father, Mother," he said turning to them. "I choose her. I choose Hope. I love her and I want to marry her. "  
  
"Well, if that is your wish, Cornelius, it shall be granted."  
  
"Oh!" came a cry from the crowd as the young woman fainted dead away.  
  
"Hehehehe," laughed the Prince quietly as he leaned toward Hope. "I love you," he said. He leaned toward her and kissed her, to seal the engagement.  
  
And so the two were married, and they lived long and happy lives. The prince told her every chance he had how beautiful she was. It's been said before that the person you love will always be beautiful to you, and Hope never once looked in the mirror and felt ugly because of her burns. She saw what her Prince saw- beautiful. 


End file.
